lazetool
Taiwan Campsite Legality Check
Type a campground's name and see how it is recorded in the Tourism Administration's dataset of all campgrounds in Taiwan: compliant, in violation of regulations (and which), or not on the list. The official site's menus, search and map cover only the two-hundred-odd compliant sites; the violators sit on a separate, unlinked page. Here both lists share one search box, and "not found" counts as an answer too.
Two or three characters are enough. Fewer characters beat more. A township name lists the whole area.
Three answers, all of them meaningful
Every search returns exactly one of three results:
- Compliant — recorded as lawful in the dataset, 203 sites nationwide.
- In violation, with the act the county government recorded — 1,604 sites.
- Not in this dataset — so not one of the 203.
The third is the reason this tool exists. On the official site camp.tad.gov.tw the menus, search and map cover only "lawful campgrounds"; the list of campgrounds in violation lives on a separate page (camp.tad.gov.tw/CMZ/illegal.jsp) reachable only from an administrative sub-site, with no map and no address. When you cannot find a campground in the lawful list you cannot tell whether it is in violation, spelled differently, or never surveyed — you would have to search again elsewhere. With both lists behind one search box, "not found" means something.
What "in violation of regulations" means
This is the field county governments fill in after surveying under the Campground Management Guidelines; the wording follows the government's own. The vast majority are land-use issues: Regional Plan Act (zoning of non-urban land), Agricultural Development Act (farmland), land-use control, Urban Planning Act — meaning the land may not legally be used as a campground, or the change of use or registration is incomplete. A few are the Building Act (illegal structures), Forestry Act, Soil and Water Conservation Act, National Park Act.
So it speaks to compliance, not directly to safety, nor to whether anything has been enforced. It does mean the regulator regards the site as non-compliant, which may matter for insurance, disputes, or liability after a disaster. What to make of that is your call; this page only lays the record out as it is. What makes a campground lawful, and what each violation costs, is set out under Regulations and penalties with links to the official texts.
Which regulations are violated
| Category | Sites | Roughly what the problem is |
|---|---|---|
| Regional Plan Act | 787 | Non-urban land zoning does not permit a campground, or no change of use |
| Land use control | 435 | Land-use zoning control, occupation of state land, etc. |
| Agricultural Development Act | 229 | Farmland used without application or change of use under the Act |
| Not registered or not applied for | 58 | Not yet registered or applied for under the guidelines |
| Urban Planning Act | 33 | Land use inconsistent with the urban plan |
| Building Act / illegal structures | 31 | Structures without permits |
| Forestry Act | 15 | Forestry land |
| Soil and Water Conservation Act | 12 | Slopeland soil and water conservation |
| Under investigation | 8 | County still investigating |
| National Park Act | 5 | Inside a national park |
A site can violate more than one act, so the counts add up to more than 1,604. Another 58 are recorded as in violation without naming an act, and 7 have text that fits none of these categories (the original text is shown regardless).
By county
| County | In operation | Compliant | In violation | Compliant share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miaoli County | 401 | 11 | 390 | 2.7% |
| Nantou County | 384 | 14 | 370 | 3.6% |
| Hsinchu County | 273 | 8 | 265 | 2.9% |
| Taoyuan City | 137 | 17 | 120 | 12.4% |
| Taichung City | 111 | 25 | 86 | 22.5% |
| Kaohsiung City | 109 | 31 | 78 | 28.4% |
| Chiayi County | 90 | 3 | 87 | 3.3% |
| Yilan County | 87 | 24 | 63 | 27.6% |
| Taitung County | 58 | 9 | 49 | 15.5% |
| New Taipei City | 52 | 9 | 43 | 17.3% |
| Pingtung County | 47 | 17 | 30 | 36.2% |
| Hualien County | 17 | 7 | 10 | 41.2% |
| Tainan City | 14 | 12 | 2 | 85.7% |
| Yunlin County | 12 | 3 | 9 | 25.0% |
| Penghu County | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Taipei City | 4 | 4 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Kinmen County | 2 | 2 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Hsinchu City | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Keelung City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Changhua County | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
Map
The data has coordinates only — no boundary, area or parcel — so only points are drawn, no circles, no estimated area. The points are official and were checked against OpenStreetMap campsites (81 samples, median offset 58 m). 68 sites have no coordinates and are not on the map. Gold = compliant, grey-purple = in violation; click a point for name and act.
Map tiles come from OpenFreeMap (OpenStreetMap data) and are requested only after you press the button.
FAQ
Does "in violation" mean an illegal campground?
The government's term is "campground in violation of relevant regulations", used here verbatim. It means that according to the county survey the site's land, structures or registration do not comply — mostly land-use zoning. It is not a safety rating and does not mean the site has been shut down.
If it is not found, is it compliant?
No. Not found means only that it is not in this dataset — different name, newly opened and not yet surveyed, or never listed. What is certain is that it is not one of the 203 compliant sites.
How often is the data updated?
The Tourism Administration marks the dataset as updated quarterly. The data date is shown at the top of the page; this site follows the source and never edits a record.
What if the data is wrong?
The records are filed by county governments and compiled by the Tourism Administration; nothing here is altered. Report errors to the Tourism Administration or the county; once the source changes, so does this page.
Why can't I find violators on the official site?
The official site's menus, search and map include only compliant campgrounds. A violation list does exist (camp.tad.gov.tw/CMZ/illegal.jsp) but is not linked from the main menu — it is reachable only through an administrative sub-site — and carries just name, county, township and act: no address, no map. This tool puts both lists behind one search box and adds a map, categories and county pages.
The numbers here don't match the official site?
This site uses the CSV on the government open-data platform (updated quarterly; the version date is at the top of the page). The official site shows live data. The two snapshots differ by a few dozen sites. For the latest status of one campground, the official site wins; this site catches up at the next source update.
Are phone numbers or booking links shown?
No. This page answers one question — compliant or not. It is not a directory and sends traffic to no one.
Source and responsibility
Data: Tourism Administration, MOTC, "All campgrounds in Taiwan", open-data platform dataset 132066 (source file dated 2026-04-28, fetched 2026-08-21). Names, statuses and legal text are verbatim; this site only categorises and searches, adding, deleting or rewording nothing. The dataset's own gaps and contradictions are listed under Source and limitations; the legal background under Regulations and penalties.
Report errors to the Tourism Administration. No guarantee is made about any campground's legality, safety or operating status; results reflect the dataset as of the fetch date.